Mr. Clayton W. Lord

Ten 2020 Trends that Will Impact the Arts

Posted by Mr. Clayton W. Lord, Feb 14, 2020


Mr. Clayton W. Lord

As we turned the corner into 2020, the Americans for the Arts staff put our heads together to come up with 10 big trends that we think are worth paying attention to this year. Together, these ten trends will inform Americans for the Arts’ next strategic planning process, which will occur this year to drive our work from 2021 to 2023. Some of them you’ll surely already know about—it is an election year, after all! But others may surprise you. From demographics to climate change to the creative economy and more, take a read and let us know what you think—what resonates most with you? What is top of your mind that is missing here? And what are you planning to do to prepare? 

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Kyoung H. Park

How Artists and Presenters Do Anti-Oppression Work – Part 2

Posted by Kyoung H. Park, Feb 12, 2020


Kyoung H. Park

For systemic change to take place, anti-oppression work compels us to examine our organizational core values and how they’re manifest in our processes, in order to critically identify where there are gaps to be filled. These gaps are then addressed by examining how we’re allocating our time, resources, and power to build our staff, board, communities, and audiences. More significantly, anti-oppression work requires us to fill these gaps through staffing, curatorial, and artistic choices that advance inclusivity and representation in order to address racial injustices. Anti-oppression work looks like a life-long commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion; it is a continuous process of active learning in which artists and arts leaders pursue change, while leaving a map for those who are doing the work with us, to ensure that this work is sustained and remains constant.

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Kyoung H. Park

How Artists and Presenters Do Anti-Oppression Work – Part 1

Posted by Kyoung H. Park, Feb 11, 2020


Kyoung H. Park

As a queer, North Korean immigrant whose family has been displaced from our native land for three generations, Andrea Smith’s framework of the “Heteropatriarchy and Three Pillars of White Supremacy” helped me understand how my own experiences as a perpetual Other (and potential “terrorist threat” from the Axis of Evil) is connected to a larger system of white supremacy. Therefore, to fully pursue our company’s artistic mission of creating a culture of peace and nonviolence, I searched for ways to align our company’s work with ongoing efforts to attain racial justice, while decolonizing my practice within arts and cultural institutions. But how does this framework become activated into something practical and real? How does one create cultural change? How do I affirm my relationships to others, to the land I stand upon, and honor my interdependence with our collective struggles? 

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Mr. Peter Gordon

Increased Scope of Legislative Priorities Bears Fruit

Posted by Mr. Peter Gordon, Feb 05, 2020


Mr. Peter Gordon

In a process that began over a year ago, the Arts have gained increased support and funding through the Congressional appropriations process. While traditional legislative priorities—the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, arts education, etc.—garnered increased funding and support language from legislators, new areas—creative arts therapies for veterans and service members and arts programs for at-risk youths—also were recognized and encouraged by appropriators for the fiscal year (FY) 2020 funding cycle. These additional legislative wins were made possible by an active Congressional Arts Caucus and Senate Cultural Caucus, a growing coalition of pro-arts organizations, and motivated grassroots advocates in every state. As the FY 2021 appropriations process is set to begin next week with the delivery of President Trump’s budget to Congress (scheduled for Feb. 10), our work to build off last year’s successes has already begun. Collaboration with our National Partners on the key issues for the 2020 Congressional Arts Handbook are ongoing, and we are gearing up for the 2020 National Arts Action Summit. 

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This Ballet Company Will Only Dance Works by Women in 2020. The Director Doesn't Think That Should Be News

Tuesday, January 28, 2020

RNZB Dancers
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Artist director Patricia Barker embarked on planning this season to challenge the narrative that an all-women-choreographer year was rare. Barker wants to normalize this, showcasing that it is “just as easy to hire a woman as a man.”

Weekly Web Roundup: Jan. 20-24, 2020

Friday, January 24, 2020

This week: Read insight from an arts lawyer who helps clear up the confusing aspect of copyright law for artists, and get inspired by a non-partisan theatre project run out of the back of a pickup truck. Plus, meet our new Membership Manager and find your next dream job on Job Bank!


Patricia Nugent

The Art of Social Change

Posted by Patricia Nugent, Jan 21, 2020


Patricia Nugent

One can only wonder what Marshall McLuhan, who coined the phrase “The medium is the message,” would have thought about the Rest Stop Theatre Project, a novel outdoor mobile experience that takes place in the back of a beat-up pickup truck. Produced by Benjamin Rexroad and Kyle Jozsa of Wandering Aesthetics (an Akron, Ohio-based storytelling theatre company), Rest Stop Theatre featured a cast of four actors running through compelling non-partisan scenes designed to increase local voting participation in the 2016 presidential election. The rollicking performance included a bit of improv, sketch comedy, and audience participation—which Wandering Aesthetics has earned a reputation for. They put on 10 performances across different parking lots and neighborhoods in Akron, exploring the many facets that make up the culture of voting.

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Weekly Web Roundup: Jan. 13-17, 2020

Friday, January 17, 2020

This week: We announced our 2020 Johnson Fellowship recipient, opened nominations for our Arts + Business Partnership Awards, discussed the importance of copyright for artists, and explored the connection between the arts and your health. Here's what else you may have missed!

Texas Composer and Jazz Trumpeter Hannibal Lokumbe Awarded National Fellowship to Advance Work in Local Communities

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Hannibal Lokumbe, photo by Mark Winslett
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Americans for the Arts announced today that jazz trumpeter and classical composer Hannibal Lokumbe of Bastrop, Texas, has been awarded the 2020 Johnson Fellowship for Artists Transforming Communities, to which he brings his musical talents and humanist approach to engage individuals and communities toward building a more just and liberated society. The $65,000 award will support him in advancing his community-based work during the fellowship year. He will also engage with Americans for the Arts’ constituents during the fellowship year.

Weekly Web Roundup: Jan. 6-10, 2020

Friday, January 10, 2020

Welcome to our newest web feature! Our Weekly Web Roundups will be released each Friday and are designed to help you catch up on all you may have missed across AmericansfortheArts.org and our sister sites, as well as ARTSblog. This week, we're also featuring bonus December content that you might have missed over the holiday season.


Laura Briedis Tomko

How cinema can become a catalyst for social change

Posted by Laura Briedis Tomko, Jan 10, 2020


Laura Briedis Tomko

While many people go to the theater to relax and be entertained after a busy day, the moviegoers at The Nightlight Cinema go there not to get away from it all—but instead are seeking community engagement. Opened in 2014 in Akron, Ohio, this art house’s mission is to create a place where cinema and community exist in tandem. Open nightly, it provides a classy nightspot where patrons can enjoy the cinematic art form and explore new ideas as part of a thoughtful community. For instance, after the screening of Inside Akron’s Tent City, a locally produced documentary that premiered at the 43rd Cleveland International Film Festival, The Nightlight Cinema added extra show dates at its theater to keep the homelessness crisis at the forefront of people’s minds. The film resonated with the city in many ways and helped people empathize with those who are homeless.

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Ms. Ann Marie Watson

The 10 (plus two!) most read ARTSblog posts of 2019

Posted by Ms. Ann Marie Watson, Jan 06, 2020


Ms. Ann Marie Watson

As we ring in 2020, it’s the perfect time for a little hindsight (get it?)—so let’s get the year started with a look back at the most-viewed ARTSblog posts from our last trip around the sun. I know what you’re thinking: “It’s 2020 … you still have a blog?” We do, dear reader! Competition for online attention is fierce, and most virtual conversations (civil or not) seem to be happening in the comments of social media posts—and yet, ARTSblog clearly is still a valued place for our field to share experience and expertise as we navigate the varied complexities of what it means to work in the arts. There is no better place to learn from your peers, whether you’re an artist, administrator, educator, city planner, arts marketer, or countless other careers that intersect with the arts—and we’re grateful for all of the writers and readers who continue to make ARTSblog both a vibrant and practical space.

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MAP Fund Case Study on Addressing Bias in Grant Review

The report was developed by Animating Democracy, a program of Americans for the Arts, in collaboration with the MAP Fund

Monday, December 16, 2019

Written to inform public and private funders who are addressing equity in their grantmaking, the case study can provide guidance to re-envision who reviews proposals and how they are chosen, orient and guide reviewers and panelists to be aware of bias, and consider alternative designs for application review that are more equitable. 


Randy Cohen

The Arts Unify Communities

Posted by Randy Cohen, Dec 06, 2019


Randy Cohen

157 years ago next week, the Battle of Fredericksburg took place—one of the bloodiest of the Civil War to that point. Following the battle, the giant Union and Confederate armies were camped mere shouting distance from each other, separated only by the Rappahannock River in Virginia. On a cold and wet evening, with both armies hunkered down and tending to their wounds, a band in the Union camp struck up a patriotic tune in hopes of lifting their side’s spirits. The Union soldiers cheered in appreciation. Not to be outdone, the Confederate band across the river then played their own patriotic tune—and the “Battle of the Bands” was on. 

In a society struggling to find equity and social justice, the arts improve the quality of our communities. They unify us and help us understand other cultures—benefits that persist even in difficult social and economic times. Like the thousands of soldiers celebrating that cold December evening, the research shows today’s public understands this as well. 

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Alicia Ehni

Supporting immigrant artists and building a network of support

Posted by Alicia Ehni, Nov 20, 2019


Alicia Ehni

New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), founded in 1971, empowers artists at critical stages of their creative lives. One of the ways NYFA serves our mission is through our Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program (IAP) that has served more than 460 mentees since 2007. A large part of the success of this program is the fostering of communities and networks that enables participants and consultants to connect and collaborate to create more opportunities for artists to showcase their work and push their practice to new levels. A clear example of this is a recent NYFA/New York Live Arts (NYLA) collaboration initiated by Yanira Castro, a Puerto Rican, Bessie Award-winning artist based in Brooklyn, and Martita Abril, a performer, choreographer, teaching artist, and mentor of the IAP Program. With the goal of reflecting on the multiplicity of their experiences, identities, practices, and politics, these artists also speak to what holds them in common: the experience of displacement and disorientation, and the work of communicating/finding/forming community. 

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When STEM Becomes STEAM, We Can Change The Game

Thursday, November 7, 2019

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Implicit bias and other structural impediments mean that we open fewer doors to girls, students of color and kids from low-income and rural communities. When they don’t engage deeply in STEM, we all lose. But the arts have always been a haven for the otherwise marginalized, and arts education connected to STEM can open many possible doors. 


Mr. John R. Killacky

Arts Advocacy through a politician’s lens

Posted by Mr. John R. Killacky, Oct 29, 2019


Mr. John R. Killacky

Since being elected to the Vermont House of Representatives last fall, my perspective has dramatically changed as to how best advocate for the arts and, in fact, how siloed arts organizations and their funders are. My legislative work focuses on economic development, tourism, heath, education, affordable housing, environment, and agriculture, as well as vulnerable populations: veterans, prisoners, the homeless, those suffering from substance use disorders, and survivors of physical and sexual abuse. Art is barely present in these conversations, but is so needed.

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Museums Are Finally Taking Accessibility for Visitors with Disabilities Seriously

Friday, October 25, 2019

Blind Walls by Dénesh Ghyczy
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Art museums are open to visitors, but are they welcome and accessible to all? To answer this, museums are becoming more aware of solutions to make artwork available to patrons with disabilities.

New Study Could Explain Why There Are Fewer Women in Theater Design Roles

Friday, October 11, 2019

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Drawing on 589 responses from female-identifying designers and production personnel, the study found two key obstacles faced by these groups: gender discrimination and lack of support for working parents.


Randy Cohen

UPDATED! Top 10 Reasons to Support the Arts for National Arts & Humanities Month

Posted by Randy Cohen, Oct 02, 2019


Randy Cohen

October is National Arts & Humanities Month, a time to celebrate and champion the arts locally and nationally. The arts are fundamental to our humanity. They ennoble and inspire us—fostering creativity, goodness, and beauty. The arts bring us joy, help us express our values, and build bridges between cultures. The arts are also a fundamental component of a healthy community—strengthening them socially, educationally, and economically—benefits that persist even in difficult social and economic times. The effective arts advocate needs a full quiver of case-making arrows to articulate the value of the arts in as many ways as possible—from the passionately inherent to the functionally pragmatic. To help fill your quiver, I offer an updated Top 10 Reasons to Support the Arts.

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A $15 Million Performing Arts Center Dedicated to Immigrants Is Coming to New York City

Thursday, September 26, 2019

The Statue of Liberty stands in New York Harbor in the snow.
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Located in the Inwood neighborhood, the Immigrants Research and Performing Arts Center will “deliver state-of-the-art cultural space in Northern Manhattan, providing a permanent home to honor the vibrancy and history of immigrant contributions to our cultural fabric.”


Wendy Duke

Inclusion and Accessibility for Performers With Disabilities

Posted by Wendy Duke, Sep 16, 2019


Wendy Duke

Many performing arts groups and venues are working towards inclusion of their whole communities—both on-stage and in the audience. Today we’re beginning to see special performances and additional accommodations for audience members with disabilities. This movement towards inclusion can include toned-down lighting, sound, and special effects to accommodate people with autism. It may involve sign language interpreters and captioning devices to assist deaf audience members, or large type or Braille programs and audio descriptions on headphones for a deeper understanding of what is happening on stage for those with vision challenges. But inclusion doesn’t stop at the audience. It includes the stage, as well.

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Sphinx to put $1.5 million in grants behind increasing diversity in classical music field

Monday, August 26, 2019

Photo of Sphinx Virtuosi members in a group
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For the past 23 years, Sphinx has helped increase the number of Black and Latinx classical musicians in U.S. orchestras from 1.5 percent in 1996, to 5 percent in 2019. The Detroit based organization supports musicians of all levels through education and access, artist development, performing artist programs, and arts leadership. 


Ms. Barbara Schaffer Bacon


Ms. E. San San Wong

Artists, Funders, and Disruption in the Public Realm

Posted by Ms. Barbara Schaffer Bacon, Ms. E. San San Wong, Aug 22, 2019


Ms. Barbara Schaffer Bacon


Ms. E. San San Wong

When artists activate the social imagination and cultural practices bring people together, when new images and events claim or create public space, and when cultural organizing mobilizes people to action, art disrupts and influences social and political dynamics and discourse in the public realm. And, when funders shape programs to support this work, they too are influencers and activists in the public realm. As definitions of public art broaden to include social and civic practice, art in the public realm continues to recur as a central idea and practice. The concept of the “public realm” recognizes public space as more than physical places for locating art. They are connectors that support or facilitate public life and social interaction. In April, Americans for the Arts and The Barr Foundation released Programs Supporting Art in the Public Realm: A National Field Scan with snapshots of 28 programs supporting and building capacity for artists working in the public realm. The scan highlights how funders and cultural agencies are shaping programs to support artists for more place-specific and issue-specific work as well as cross-sector collaborations.

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Abigail Alpern Fisch

Creative Summer: Intern Experiences at Americans for the Arts

Posted by Abigail Alpern Fisch, Aug 19, 2019


Abigail Alpern Fisch

“What is justice?” In my first year of college, I had a research assignment to choose a case study related to this question. I wrote about the need to increase equitable access to arts education in the United States as a means for social justice, and used resources from Americans for the Arts for my research. With previous experience as a visual arts student as well as an art teacher for students from underserved schools in the Washington, D.C. area, I knew the transformative power that the arts could have to empower individuals and communities. My classmates were eager during my presentation to hear more about the case for the arts as a matter of social justice, as many of them reflected that they had never thought about arts in the context of social impact or equity. Since then, I have wanted to be an advocate for the arts wherever I go, knowing that it is so intertwined with issues of equity and social justice. I have pursued ways to integrate my interests in the arts with my professional goals of advocacy and related communications fields. This summer, I had the perfect opportunity to integrate my interest in the arts with my professional goals as the Marketing and Communications intern at Americans for the Arts.

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Mr. Robert Lynch

My Woodstock

Posted by Mr. Robert Lynch, Aug 14, 2019


Mr. Robert Lynch

Fifty years ago this week I was at Woodstock, among the “half a million strong” that Joni Mitchell sang about. I arrived in a much-mended 1963 Rambler with my girlfriend Karyl. I was 19 and it was the summer of my sophomore year in college. My brother Roger arrived separately with a bunch of his high school friends on the back of a pick-up truck held together with duct tape and band-aids. Neither of us knew the other was there. Our parents, like many other parents, didn’t learn about our trip until later, and they weren’t all that happy about it. The first news reports portrayed a chaotic, dangerous, and lawless image of the three days. The county had declared a state of emergency and reports were that the National Guard was about to be called in at any moment. Eventually, each of us would take life-changing, year-long adventures on the road—my brother on a motorcycle, me and Karyl in a VW bus. We all were English majors and were, of course, inspired by Jack Kerouac’s On the Road; but for now we had arrived at Woodstock. Even after all these many years, being at Woodstock was inspirational and significant. 

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Diversity in NYC Arts Organizations Falls Short of City Demographics

Monday, August 12, 2019

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A survey conducted in New York City revealed that the city’s arts and cultural nonprofits are still failing to reflect its surrounding community’s diversity. The report finds that while people of color make up two thirds of New York’s population, two thirds of its arts administrators are white. The study examined institutions large and small throughout the city’s five boroughs.

Foundations donate historic Jet/Ebony archive to African American Museum

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

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Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture and other cultural institutions hope to preserve and recognize these publications and rich stories by making content accessible to the public and future generations. 

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